Fire in Ice
by CaskettHeatRook
Summary: My take on the freezer scene in Countdown. REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Detective Kate Beckett's heart sank as she heard the sure sounds of the door being locked from the outside. Lowering her gun, she went over to the door and shoved her weight against it. It didn't budge. But that didn't stop her from trying again and again until Castle came over and stopped her.

"Whoa!" He said, wrapping his arms around her, holding her in place. Kate couldn't help but sag a little into the strength and warmth of his arms. "Ok?" He asked her, and she nodded. Castle let go of her and wandered to the back of the freezer. "Kate….?" He called. She looked up at him. "It's Jamal." Becket immediately came over. Jamal was frozen solid, so he'd obviously been in here a while. But that hadn't been the cause of death. Jamal had been shot through the head, just like his cousin, Amir. Beckett took in the sight, then turned away and walked back towards the front of the freezer. There had to be a way out of this! She heard Castle walk over to join her.

"How cold do you think it is in here?" Castle asked, already shivering.

"One below zero." She told him, the cold already starting to steep into her bones. It wouldn't be long until the hypothermia set in. Kate looked around, desperately looking for a way out. She examined the door, then drew out her gun and fired several shots at where she figured the lock was.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Castle cried, ducking down to avoid any ricochets. Kate turned towards him.

"No one knows we're here Castle. We have to get out!" Castle nodded.

"But that," he said, walking over to her. "Is just going to get us killed." Kate couldn't help but see his logic and put her gun away.

"This isn't good Castle." She said.

"No, it's not. Not at all"

"I could really use a silver lining right about now."

"I really wish I had one." Castle said regretfully. Kate sighed and sat down. She shivered, running her hands up and down her frozen arms. Castle just plopped himself down on the floor next to her.

"Um, I have an idea. If we sit close together, maybe we won't end up being found as human popsicles" Castle said, smirking.

Kate just glared at him but shifted so she was between his legs. She couldn't help but feel an immediate sense of warmth. They just sat there, neither knowing how much time had passed. Minutes, hours, days. Kate eventually lost all feeling in her body and Castle's body became as cold as Kate's, offering no source of warmth. Kate grew progressively more and more tired, until her eyelids grew heavy.

"C-c-castle, I w-want you to k-know that i-if w-we don't make it, I-i want y-you to k-know th-that I lo-" Kate stopped in the middle as her head lolled to the side.

Kate, Kate!" Castle tried call her, trying to hit her but it was no use as his arms were frozen and he could not move. A feeling of absolute dread rose in his chest as he could not see her chest move. She really did look terrible. Her skin was deathly pale, there was small icicles on her eyelashes and her lips were faintly blue. Worst of all, he wanted to know what he had been about to say. Who did she love?

After having sat there for ages with an unmoving Kate in his arms, Castle lost the battle with his eyes and they slid shut, welcoming him into the dark abyss where there was no cold.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This chapter is going to be about what Ryan and Esposito do to find them as there is nothing about this in the show**

"Ryan," Kevin Ryan's phone just rang, it had been a few hours since Castle's daughter, Alexis, had called him looking for her dad. The teen had told him she had tried her father's cell phone and he wasn't answering, but it looked like he had been at the apartment. She wanted to know if he was at the precinct.

The detective tried to quell the growing worry in his stomach as he calmly told the teen that Castle was probably out with Beckett and that he would try to get a hold of them. Quickly telling Esposito what was up the young detective called Beckett's phone, it too going to voice mail, something the officer knew never happened. Detective Kate Beckett was nothing if not committed to her job and would never go without answering her phone.

"She's not answering" Ryan told Esposito, both men exchanging a worried look.

"Well, they weren't to happy being tossed off the case, especially when Castle just figured he was trying to help." Esposito looked toward the 'murder board', "Damn… you don't think they are still trying to work this do you?"

"This is Beckett and Castle we're talking about." Ryan commented as he headed toward the room where Captain Montgomery was talking with Fallon.

Stepping from the room a few minutes later both detectives were getting frustrated. Not only from the potential threat of a dirty bomb exploding inside Manhattan, but the fact the Captain didn't seem as concerned about the inability to get a hold of either Beckett or Castle as they were. Ryan reached for the phone on his desk as his partner sat on the edge, "What are you doing?"

"We know they are probably working the case right?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, Beckett's not gonna give up that easy and we know Castle isn't happy until he has things figured out." Esposito responded.

"Okay, so we have uniforms go back over the crime scenes, the warehouse and storage facility. Maybe they are out checking them again to see if something was missed and stumbled onto something, but aren't able to call in for help." Ryan dialed, waiting for dispatch to pick up.

"I don't like the sound of that." Javier stood, rounding his desk, worst case scenarios playing in his mind.

"Yeah, me neither…" Kevin's attention drawn to the voice on the other end, "Yes, this is Detective Ryan, Homicide; I'd like to have patrols recanvas a couple crime scenes for me." Esposito nodded, a couple patrols wouldn't interfere with the current search for the bomb and may very well be for nothing, but his gut told him they had good reason for the worry and he silently prayed this bad day wouldn't be getting any worse.

"Ryan," Kevin Ryan's phone just rang, his eye's flying up to meet his partner, across the desk from him, "Where? You sure it's hers? Okay, we're on our way, wait for us." Kevin slammed the phone down, taking off toward the Captain's office, Javier right behind him. "Captain, we found Beckett's car outside one of the crime scenes, patrol hasn't found them outside the building. I told them to wait for us before going in."

Worry crossed the captain's face as he stood, motioning to Fallon, who was in the other room on the phone. Fallon entered the room, hoping for the much needed lead they had been praying for, "We may have something, I'll explain on the way."

The four men rushed from the office, Fallon calling in additional officers as they raced to the cars, "You're going to have to explain to me how a detective I threw off this case and a civilian are still running around investigating this." Fallon sounded pissed as he got into the driver's seat of his vehicle, Montgomery getting in the passenger side.

"Beckett is the best detective I have, if she has a case, she will never rest until she finds the answers. Throw in Castle and I don't know how it works out, but it does." Montgomery defended his detective and her shadow, proud of them for not letting it go, but worried about what kind of trouble her and Castle had possibly gotten themselves into.

Ryan and Esposito arrived first, uniforms still searching around the warehouse and nearby alleys, Fallon and Montgomery driving up less than a minute later. "I want scanners going in first, if that bomb is anywhere around here we need to be cautious." Fallon ordered. Bomb squad moved in first, Ryan, Esposito, Fallon and Montgomery next, uniforms bring up the rear.

It took all Ryan and Esposito had to not call out for their friends. Bomb squad got low levels of residual radiation, but no sign of the bomb, the bad guys or their missing detective and author. It was then a uniform shouted out about finding bullet casings. The detectives started looking around at the containers near them, their flashlights quickly picking up on several dents on the surround containers, "Return fire." Esposito mumbled as he touched one of the spots. "Start checking containers!" He shouted as he and Ryan started with the ones they were next to.

They could hear the units being opened in the distance; the shouts of clear told them no one had been found. There were three more on the aisle the two detectives were on. Pausing Ryan looked at a gage on the side of the next box he was getting ready to open, "Freezer container…" He glanced at his partner as a terrible feeling came over him, "God, you don't think?" Both men reacted at the same time, Esposito lifting the handle, the freezing temperature reaching them before they even had the door opened.

Their flashlights caught something on the floor near the back of the container, both men felt their heart rates increase, "We got something here!" Ryan shouted.

"Castle?" Esposito mumbled as Ryan shined his flashlight in the direction his friend had. The site before them took a moment to comprehend. Ten feet into the container, against the wall were the huddled, unmoving forms of Beckett and Castle. "We need medic's now, officers down!" Ryan shouted as the sound of pounding feet neared their location, he and Esposito hurriedly making their way to their fallen comrades.

"Yo bro, you check Castle, I'll check Beckett," Esposito yelled to Ryan has they knelt down beside them. They really were a sight for sore eyes. They had white skin, blue lips and icicles were forming on their eyelashes. Beckett looked better then Castle as there was more colour on her face.

Ryan knelt down and pressed a hand against Castle's wrist to try and find a pulse. He glanced down at the man who had brought joy to all their lives, who had become one of his best friends. "I can't... Nothing!"

Espo managed to find a pulse on Beckett quickly. It was weak, but there. They had a really hard time disentangling Beckett from Castle's arms. "Boy you must had a death grip on her" Esposito muttered. They quickly brought her to the ambulance. Esposito ran back to get Castle. He was still frozen with his arms in front of him like he had Beckett in his arms. He lifted him up with a grunt and carried him to the ambulance which sped off to the hospital immediately. Ryan sent off a quick prayer to the guy up above for Mom and Dad to be okay. He and Esposito got in the cruiser and sped off to the hospital.


End file.
